Four-Armed Divine Emperor

It's either self-confidence or a bigger ambition.

Muddying the waters of the Alan Empire is the first step for El to give this old empire a "new life".

The author says:

Author's words: ps: There are two more chapters in the afternoon

131: A Prelude to Turmoil

Artasis IX was assassinated in public during a regular sacrifice ceremony by a fanatical Zoroastrian. The assassin attacked Shafasha with a simple incendiary bomb filled with kerosene while he was performing the evening worship ceremony of Saint Set.

Because flammable materials such as kerosene were common items in the Zoroastrian court, the assassin took out the still-hot grease from a torch that "happened" to be extinguished, filled a crystal bottle of wine with it, hid it in his arms, and then threw it at the King of Kings. He then pounced on him and attacked Artasis IX with a dagger.

The crystal bottle exploded on Artasis's back, and flames instantly covered half of the emperor's body.

As the assassin was moving and being captured by the frightened and enraged guards, he kept shouting:

Sinner who extinguished the flames of revenge! Blasphemy! Sinner! Blasphemy!

After a quick interrogation, the assassin claimed that he had committed the assassination because Shafasha had watched the Kingdom of Xerxes in the north, which protected the sacred flame of vengeance, fall to the pagans, and later suffered the loss of his army and humiliation of the country. Now, instead of making progress, he negotiated with the barbarians and had lost his qualifications to be king.

Of course, everyone knows that this is definitely just an excuse, and this guy couldn't have done this alone.

The palace inspector, who was proficient in three types of spells: mind control, enchantment, and necromancy, directly interrogated the assassin with spells, but found that the man's motive for assassination was completely forcibly inserted by magic that changed his memory and cognition. Obviously, someone did not want to be exposed, so he chose to spend a lot of money to tamper with the cognition of such a Zoroastrian priest who could enter and leave the palace in order to create this assassination.

But other than that, there is no more useful information. It is even impossible to know who implanted the assassin's purpose of assassination, because the other party has obviously anticipated the existence of the palace monitor. When the monitor explored the assassin's mind, he found that the other party's consciousness and memory had been completely shattered. Apart from knowing that "someone is behind the attack", there is no other way to know.

The Inspector is an extremely rare sixth-ring wizard who has mastered three types of unconventional magic. Although it is difficult for him to break through to the extraordinary realm of the seventh ring due to academic issues, his three-system spells are too strange and powerful. Even higher-level wizards, such as the Grand Master of the Iskhan Court, an eighth-ring wizard of the Shaping System, are basically the strongest fighting force in the mortal world below the Floating City.

They will also be treated equally.

In order for the opponent to be able to defend against the Inspector's methods, there must be at least a spellcaster who is slightly inferior to the Inspector in level, but not much worse in terms of mind control and enchantment, or at least a spellcaster who has mastered both types of spells at the same time.

conspiracy!

What a huge conspiracy!

There were extensive burns all over his body, but fortunately there were magicians with miraculous healing skills, and the pain only lasted for half a day, at least it did not affect the emperor's judgment.

The emperor was assassinated in public, and his anger can be imagined. This was a big blow and severe challenge to him and the authority of the central government!

The loyal guards and the intelligence front led by the Bird General began to conduct a large-scale investigation on both the open and covert lines. Overnight, countless people were panicked and nervous; too many sneaky conspiracies were exposed by the guards and intelligence agents and were placed on the desk of the Iskhan Palace.

But no matter what, their efforts could not catch up with the plans that their descendants had prepared for a long time.

The news that "the emperor was assassinated and martial law was imposed by the Iskhanfa" quickly spread throughout the empire's east, west, south and north borders with magical fluctuations and letters in a way that the Iskhanfa could not have predicted.

Across the vast empire and vast territory, countless subjects discussed this matter, turning their attention to the position that symbolized supreme power, the civilization of the Fire Worshipers that had existed for thousands of years:

Iskhan law.

Naturally, the emperor's grand investigation could not yield any real results.

Every descendant inherited... uh, shared the wisdom from their father and brothers.

They are natural warriors, commanders, conspirators... and excellent behind-the-scenes manipulators.

Psionic power plus magic is difficult to prevent and resist even for mages, let alone mortals.

The vast Iskhanfa, the center and best place of the Zoroastrian Alan Empire, has a huge metropolitan area with a permanent population of nearly 15 million. Its core inner ring is maintained by a luxurious and complex magic system, but there are only 675 Sons of Aiur active, a ratio of almost one in 30,000 people. However, it is these 675 efficient sons who are both civil and martial, and who practice both spiritual magic, who have transformed the entire prosperous city.

Chapter 268

The complex forms of the Iskhan law pushed it into turmoil that was difficult for mortals to predict.

After numerous investigations and countless hardships, the royal intelligence personnel finally found some "key clues" that pointed to some old and powerful imperial families and noble clans. These powerful people, some of whom were even from thousand-year-old families, also learned that some of their "key secrets" had been leaked, seemingly obtained by competitors or fell into the hands of the court...

Like an omnipresent yet invisible ghost, in a forest called "Iskhanfa Province", it quietly tells everyone the unspeakable secrets, flaws, weaknesses of different people, what they have done to themselves, what they are planning to do... in a way that will not arouse suspicion.

In an instant, suspicion was formed.

Some of them are hiding behind the scenes, while others are on the stage, seemingly like puppets, dancing according to the orders of their masters, but in fact they are guiding the direction of the situation in Iskhanfa, rapidly sliding into the bottomless abyss.

The use of magic leaves traces, but the effects of psychic power are silent and invisible.

Who could have imagined that the slave soldiers who were so loyal to the emperor that they would never betray him would suddenly attack and kill a thousand-year-old famous family during their routine "inspection and consultation" without receiving any compulsory orders?

It just so happened that this thousand-year-old famous family, during the recent period of investigation, discovered that evidence of an interesting role they played in the death of the brother of the previous King of Kings, Emperor Artasis IX, had fallen into the hands of the current emperor.

The emperor did know about this matter, but he didn't want to do anything about it. After all, the other party was not the mastermind, and the real manipulator was still hiding. Even if he knew, he might not be able to do anything. He just wanted to send his guards to intimidate the other party, and then appease them later.

However, the noble families saw the sudden action of the emperor's guards as a purge of revenge, so they decisively took countermeasures, unwilling to sit on the steps and suffer in captivity. The emperor, however, naturally had no doubt that his loyal slave soldiers, who had rebelled in groups of dozens without orders, had clearly discovered evidence of a rebellious conspiracy against the noble families! The other party wanted to strike first, so he acted decisively, suppressing the rebellion with a thunderous iron fist!

......

In this way, the chaos intensified. Less than a week after the assassination at the Holy Set ceremony, the emperor himself was assassinated twice in succession. At the same time, the troops serving in the imperial court killed and captured tens of thousands of people in the entire area around Iskhanfa, and wanted notices for nearly the same number of people were issued in various forms such as notices and secret orders.

Chapter 127: Ardabil (54)

As for the confiscated slaves and servants, their number was countless.

There were two prominent families whose inheritance had lasted for a thousand years. There were many famous families with the glorious titles of "Sultan", "Pasha", "Shefribey" and even prince "Shah". The main clans of Iskhanfa were almost wiped out and imprisoned in the palace jail.

There were also many less powerful and influential forces that were forced or voluntarily involved in this turmoil that suddenly broke out like a wildfire and spread across the prairie.

The Emperor seemed to have the upper hand, but equally, this was a step in the future that the Aiel had planned for his empire.

Authority has been severely damaged, but opposition and division are intensifying.

The majesty of the throne was undermined, and his enemies were rapidly increasing.

The turmoil of Iskhanfa was only a preview of the chaos that was to come in this vast empire.

132: You are good at... Rites, music, conquests, and wars are all from the princes.

As time passed and with the push of his descendants, the first local usurper soon appeared.

Euthydemus, a "Satrap" (governor) of Sogdiana, a Bactrian region located on the eastern frontier of the empire with a complicated situation, violated the borders and territories demarcated by the empire and brazenly invaded the jurisdiction of another governor of the Satrap province and occupied the other's capital, Kathua. The latter escaped in a panic through a teleportation spell, leaving the huge province to Euthydemus.

As a person of local Bactrian descent (mainly a mixture of the Astarians' eastward expedition and the local ethnic groups), Euthydemus had close ties with the local Bactrian princes who were unruly, simple in customs, and had always been dissatisfied with the rule of the Zoroastrian Empire. His move obviously also had the support of the locals.

Afterwards, Euthydemus sent a report to the center of the Iskhanfa that "local tribes rebelled, but everything was still under control and Shahfa Shah had nothing to worry about." At the same time, he usurped the title of "Grand Satrap" (full-power governor) for himself on the grounds that the matter of suppressing the rebellion was important and required strong governance. Then, without waiting for the Iskhanfa's response, he exercised the authority of the Grand Satrap with peace of mind.

After Euthydemus came to power, he quickly abolished some privileges of Zoroastrians and discriminatory policies against Bactrians in the Bactria region on the grounds of suppressing rebellion and stabilizing the region. At the same time, under his governance, he introduced a large number of Bactrian elites, expanded the army, and expanded the administrative agencies... He looked like he wanted to be an independent and powerful prince.

An ambitious and usurper, he also bears the mark of separatism.

This is not allowed at any time.

If we follow the normal process, the provinces and legions around the center who are loyal to the center should report the situation to Ishakhan while issuing a declaration of attack. Everyone is ready to fight as the king's vanguard and deal with this troublemaker.

Chapter 269

These are all real achievements and gains.

But strangely, even though Euthydemus had already rebelled, the neighboring provinces did not react at all.

Even Samarkand, the eastern capital of the Alan Empire, which had the largest military force in the eastern part of the border defense corps, turned a blind eye to the usurping "Great Satrap" Euthydemus who rebelled right under their noses, and only sent the news to Iskhanfa to ask for a solution.

The Alan Empire theoretically had three capitals: the western capital Seleucia, and Babylonia, where the Palace of Wisdom was located. They were also adjacent to the empire's most prosperous provinces, and their status was second only to, and even slightly on par with, the central capital Iskhanfa.

There is no need to say much about the central capital, Iskandar.

The eastern capital of Samarkand is quite special. Its founders were an ancient ethnic group that had been hostile to the Zoroastrian civilization for hundreds of years. Samarkand was their capital. Later, because the exiles fleeing from the eastern continent landed behind them and came to the Tartarus continent, the ancient ethnic group with the same long history as the Zoroastrians disappeared and was annexed by the Zoroastrians.

The Zoroastrians saw the city as the hub for their rule over their eastern territories. They had no ambitions for the vast, complex, but barren Altai steppe, and regarded it as the "end of the world" for their empire.

Thus, Samarkand became, in a sense, a golden node for land-based exchanges between Eastern and Western civilizations and trade. A number of huge nomadic khanates arose on the grasslands—not Khanates, but Khanates. The difference was that the former could at least be considered a proper "country" rather than a loose tribal alliance that could collapse and disintegrate at any time after the death of the Khan or a defeat in a war.

The Oriental caravans crossed the vast ocean and landed on the easternmost part of the Tartarus continent. They then went west through the grasslands, went north to the Cumans and entered Usriv, went south through India and took the sea route to the prosperous realm. The middle route was the most important, and the most important first stop was often Samarkand, which promoted the prosperity of the Eastern Capital.

But later, the dynasty on the Eastern Continent launched a massive westward expedition, climbed up Tartarus, and clashed violently with the Zoroastrian Empire, which was at the peak of its prosperity during the Spring and Autumn Period and was on the decline.

This battle caused the disintegration of the Three Indies Dynasties, which was an independent regional power at the time, and broke it into small countries. The Zoroastrian civilization declined, and the country experienced two changes of dynasties. At that time, the western part of the continent did not have the concept of the so-called "prosperous realm". It was because the high-intensity war caused a large number of extraordinary people and elites to choose to go west to avoid the war. Even many floating cities were relocated, which allowed the West to surpass the Eastern Empire.

The war brought by the Eastern Dynasty plunged the Zoroastrian Empire into a long period of chaos, and the eastern territories directly affected by the war were even more so. The nomads who were once driven by the Easterners took the opportunity to rise up after their retreat, invading the country and plundering the territory... The eastern territories of the Alan Empire originally had various contradictions due to the complex ethnic composition, and the balance was difficult to return to the past after it was broken by the war.

If the empire is viewed as being divided into three parts, the part called the East is covered with wounds and scars, is constantly bleeding, and occasionally festers somewhere.

In order to deal with this situation, the Alan Empire, which took over the power of the Zoroastrians, established an efficient pseudo-central government in the east with Samarkand as its base. Its ruling group had a high degree of autonomy and was responsible to the master of the Iskhan law. It also established a large border defense corps to suppress civil unrest, riots, and rebellions in various places; deal with nomadic invasions, etc.

However, as the dynasty became corrupt and decadent, it declined. The border defense corps in the East, which was originally used to protect the country and the people, and the Samarkand "shogunate" that was used to efficiently govern the area on behalf of the western capital, were called so because they had the extremely rare power to mobilize the army and send troops to conquer on behalf of the central government within a unified country. This is a term that came from the East.

All of them have deteriorated.

The border corps became a breeding ground for warlords. The arrogant soldiers and generals regarded the empire's eastern territories as the reward they deserved for "fighting for the empire for many years" and refused to let others interfere.

The Samarkand Shogunate became a "second center" that was vaguely independent of the center. The bureaucrats and dignitaries there only served their own interests. When a powerful warlord rose, he would try to exert influence on Samarkand, and the latter would politely open its doors to "welcome" him. The warlord became the uncrowned king of the East, and Samarkand became the "capital of the Eastern Empire". If the warlord was defeated and the "throne was vacant" and no one could take the lead, and the people of Samarkand became the "capital of the second empire", they would also be loyal to the Iskhanfa and follow the orders of the Iskhanfa on the premise that it did not violate their own interests.

......

Under this special system, although the Samarkand people have not found a "powerful leader" at present, and no warlord has been able to integrate more than half of the border defense forces to "go to Luoyang", Samarkand obeys the orders from the center, but in cases like Euthydemus, they theoretically also have the responsibility and obligation to act decisively.

Even if it was just a rebuke for Euthydemus annexing the province under the jurisdiction of another Satrap without any reason, and other things like privately expanding the army, abolishing racial policies, etc., which were all for the future; it could also play a significant role, at least Euthydemus's "neighbors" would most likely respond.

But Samarkand, which is in a position to make decisions in the east, has an ambiguous attitude and seems to have other plans, which makes many people wonder about the relationship.

Chapter 270

翩。

On the other hand, driven by his sons, the court did not consider this minor incident that occurred in a remote frontier as a big deal. The emperor did not know the specific reasons, and while he was fully engaged in fighting the invisible enemies who were "right in the palace and right beside him", Artasis IX's energy was also diverted. He did not carefully examine and discover anything amiss in the memorial in his hand. Euthydemus's request for "temporary full powers" and "trusted management of the territory" was issued after he had actually done so. This was no secret in the eyes of those in the eastern part of the empire who were paying attention to this matter.

This is disrespectful and treasonous.

But Iskhanfa's response was:

"Please, it's your turn. Be cautious and don't be hasty."

Artasis IX might not have realized anything when he approved this line of words, but with Euthydemus's usurpation as a sign, the Alan Empire officially entered the stage of Tai'a's reversal and the collapse of the royal power...

Rituals, music, conquests and wars began in the chaotic era when the princes emerged.

133: Common Calendar Year 328

As the universal calendar enters the 328th year.

Across the Tartarus continent, several major events occurred in the three major empires:

As the most powerful "Central Empire," the Chronos people engaged in several major military conflicts with their neighbors. In the northeast, to curb the westward and southward expansion of the Usliv people, they funded the Eastern Federation, established by the "remnants of the previous dynasty" and exiles from the Usliv Tsardom, to fight a major battle with the Tsar's army, with both sides winning and losing.

On the western frontier of the empire, the united Goths, after receiving funding from overseas elves, launched an invasion of the Carloman states that had surrendered to the Cronosians. They were repelled by a coalition force composed of the Cronosians and the local Carloman states, and the border was ultimately maintained at its pre-war level.

As for the internal affairs of the Kronos Empire, many things also happened, but they were not all mentioned;

Unable to gain an advantage in the southwest, the Uslivs sought a new path. In the northern snow kingdom of Nolan, they successfully placed a prince of Usliv royal blood on the throne of Grand Duke Nolan. This prince had close ties to the current Empress Yelena. In the east, the Uslivs made their first attempt to incorporate the Kipchak Steppe into their own territory for governance, rather than simply viewing it as a source of troops as they had in the past. However, it is said that their progress was not smooth...

Chapter 127: Ardabil (55)

Finally, there is the oldest and most established of the three empires, Alan Baizor.

To their north, a vast nomadic royal court has arisen, stretching from the Vast Ocean in the east to the Kipchak in the west. It is said that this court has had some conflicts with the Usli people.

The newly rising nomadic royal court was ambitious. Although it was still at an absolute disadvantage compared to the size of the old empire, the Great Khan obviously could not restrain his desire for a prosperous world. The nomadic army began to march southward continuously. Although compared with the power of the civilized empire, their system was primitive, their technology was backward, and their number of mages (shamans) was scarce, they still relied on their primitive fanatical barbarism and indifference to life to continuously tear wounds from the Alan people.

For the Zoroastrian Empire, the assassination of Artasis IX marked the official transition of the empire from "stability outside the curtain" to a period of turmoil.

There were constant struggles in the central government, local rebellions emerged one after another, and the eastern territories were almost independent, especially when the nomads began to invade the south in large numbers. The border troops refused to give in, and the corrupt, bloated border troops had become a blood-sucking cancer on the increasingly weakening body of the empire. After continuing to bleed and inject gold into the bottomless hole, the border troops, who felt extremely "angry" about the "betrayal" they had suffered, reached a consensus among the warlords, big and small, "Since Iskhanfa is unwilling to continue to pay for us, then we have no reason to continue to take responsibility for Shafasha."

They nominated several generals with military merits and prestige to form the "Supreme Military and Political Tribunal of the Empire". Holding the banner of the sun chariot, they marched into Samarkand in a mighty procession, expelled the central bureaucrats who were loyal to the Iskandarian law, and completed a bloodless "conquest of the Kyoto".

The united warlords also formed an alliance with another group of people:

The provincial governors and dignitaries were equally ambitious and in no way inferior to these military leaders.

In other words, their identities can often be converted into each other at any time.

So, faced with a nomadic invasion that actually posed no serious threat to the civilized empire, the vast territory that accounted for nearly a quarter of the empire was so strangely trapped in the actual independent "Eastern Mutual Protection" under the "consensus" and mainstream promotion of the ambitious people.

The Indian states that submitted to the Zoroastrians also announced in due time that they had suspended tribute to the Iskhanfar because of the "serious situation" in the east. Although they were shattered by the invasion of the Easterners and have not yet recovered their once prosperous state, India has now withdrawn from the stage of the big game. However, if they can complete the cause of unification before the Zoroastrian drama ends and the final winner is decided, they still have the possibility of maintaining their independence and glory.

Iskhanfa was extremely worried about the changes in the empire over the past two or three years. In the western part of the empire, in the territory of Antolia, the keen and greedy Seven Shields Alliance sensed the signs of the accelerated decline of this huge empire. With the support of the Aegean city-states, they began to try to completely expel the Zoroastrian forces from the Antolia Mountains. They detained the Alan caravan, created a civil uprising and besieged the garrison, and seized the Alan in the name of liberating slaves.

Chapter 271

People's property...

And in the southwest, after winning the Battle of the Yellow Sands and making the fertile land of Yellow Sands prosperous, a warlord who defeated all of Tartarus's oldest civilization, the Golden Dynasty, has emerged. He claims to be a descendant of the ancient "Golden King" and announced the reconstruction of the Golden Dynasty - the Tenth Dynasty. He also ambitiously tries to restore the ancient dynasty's sphere of influence: the western end of the Crescent River Basin, which is still under the control of the Alan people, and the land of Canaan is his primary target.

The Alan Empire's garrison in Canaan faced severe challenges. The local people did not welcome these Zoroastrian legions with poor military discipline and regarded them as "invaders". The reason was that the Alan Empire, which had lost the Battle of the Yellow Sands and its prosperous fertile land, was facing considerable pressure in the west, south, north and west (sea). It had to maintain a large army to deal with the threats, but the empire's finances had been declining year after year, and the tax collection system was chaotic. Therefore, many times the local army had to... eat locally. In addition, the Zoroastrian military discipline has always been like this. Once a gap is opened, they will naturally rob everything and will not leave two or three points. It is much better only in the heartland of the empire. It has always been like this outside, so their image is very bad.